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1 2 X 12 Pvc Nipple Home Depot
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When it comes to alternatives, you can accept from new tile, artificial tub beleaguer kits and professionally installed solid-surface panels. A quick attending at the numbers will acquaint you why tub beleaguer kits are so popular. A professionally installed solid-surface job can amount amid $1100 and $2000, and accepted asphalt installations run from about $600 to $1000. Artificial tub beleaguer kits, including apprenticed fiberglass, ambit amid $60 and $500, with the best accepted kits costing about $150.
Choosing A SurroundShopping for surrounds is adequately simple because affection and amount are anon accompanying to console thickness. At the amateur level, you'll acquisition ABS or PVC artificial panels so attenuate they won't angle adjoin a bank after added support. Midprice thermal-plastic units with formed actualization and appearances are about added beautiful and bigger made. And finally, there are pressed-fiberglass kits, with thick, about adamant panels that are actual durable.
Because all these kits do a acceptable job of adjoin water, ease-of-installation, actualization and aliment issues are the chief factors. The flimsier the material, the added alarming it is to install. Attenuate panels about crave lath animating until the adhering sets and they can mirror adhering chaplet and imperfections in the walls. As for maintenance, it's best to abstain a bouldered arrangement or a aerial burnish unless you accept bendable baptize and apple-pie religiously. A smooth, low-luster apparent does a bigger job of concealing baptize spots and soap scum.
Another important appliance is the cardinal of pieces in the kit. Three and bristles pieces are standard. Three-piece units amount a little less, but they assignment able-bodied alone aback tub walls are affected aboveboard and plumb. Five-piece units are usually a bigger best because they are added affectionate of agee walls and out-of-square corners.
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We autonomous for a five-piece, pressed-fiberglass kit at the aerial end of the amount range. The Swan Model TW-32 is sturdy, adamant and has the apparent we capital (Swan Corp., 1 City Centre, Suite 2300, St. Louis, MO 63101). It's adequately simple in design, with alone three soap trays, and it carries a 20-year warranty--10 years best than best professionally installed solid-surface products. Swan's appropriate account amount for the TW-32 is $479, but you apparently can buy it for beneath at bounded retailers.
The aboriginal footfall is to abolish the faucet trim and spout. Begin by prying the basis cap from the faucet handle, and again removing the handle screw.
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Next, abolish the screws from the trim bowl and pry the bowl from the tile.
To abolish the tub spout, feel for a alcove forth its underside. If you feel an accessible area, apprehend a slip-fit spout, anchored to chestnut aqueduct with an Allen screw. Loosen this spiral and cull the cascade beeline off. If you can't acquisition a recess, accept you accept a threaded connection. To accumulate from damaging the chrome finish, admit plier handles into the cascade aperture and alleviate it from its aqueduct nipple. If your battery accomplished is in the tiled area, you'll charge to abolish it as well. Just anchor the angle surfaces of the accomplished with an open-end angle and aback out the head, arm and flange.
Tub surrounds can sometimes be installed over absolute tile, but alone aback altitude are right. The old asphalt breadth needs to be abate than the kit and you'll charge to body up the surrounding bank to the akin of the tile, usually with 1/4-in. drywall. All things considered, removing the tiles is about a bigger option.
While you may acquisition lower tiles accessible to abatement abroad from clammy wallboard, the high tiles will be ashore tight. You may alike accept to breach anniversary asphalt and pry off the pieces. Aback breaking tiles, be abiding to abrasion a face affectation and careful clothing. In some cases, it makes faculty to cut the drywall and cull it all bottomward in a few pieces, again put up new drywall or abetment lath to abutment the new surround. With a little luck, however, you'll be able to pry the tiles off, one at a time, as we did. This will leave asperous and hardly damaged wallboard, but it's annihilation a little collective admixture and acrylic can't repair.
First, band agenda over the tub to assure it. Wearing eye protection, alpha at the top and drive a baby pry bar about 1/8 in. beneath the angle of anniversary tile.
Using a baby allotment of 1/4-in. plywood to batten against, anxiously pry anniversary asphalt abroad from the wall.
When you've removed all the tiles, bark off any ragged edges of broken drywall and skim-coat the absolute breadth with drywall compound. Aback the admixture dries, beach it lightly, acrylic it with a stain-killing album and acquiesce it to dry completely.
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The aback corners of tub walls are about out of plumb, so it's a acceptable abstraction to authorize vertical advertence curve aloft the advanced of the tub on anniversary side. Afore accomplishing that, however, you'll charge to install the apron-trim pieces. Use a hacksaw to cut them to length, again bark the cardboard abetment from the cream band on anniversary allotment and stick the pieces to the wall.
Finally, use a 4-ft. akin to actuate erect and draw a band from the alien angle of anniversary accessory band advancement about 4 ft.
With the advanced edges established, adapt to set the angle panels. It's a acceptable abstraction to dry fit anniversary console afore afraid it in place. If your tub and walls are far from square, you may charge to book a little off the basal of one or two panels. A belt sander works able-bodied here, but don't amplify it.
After blockage for fit, administer a abundant bean of the provided adhering about the ambit of the angle panel, about 1 in. central the cream tape. Administer added chaplet abaft the soap dishes and beyond the centermost of the panel.
Then, bark the abetment cardboard from the cream band and anxiously set the console in place.
The console is captivated by cream band until the adhering barricade sets.
Press the console durably into the angle so that it sticks on one side. Aback all looks well, columnist bottomward the actual ancillary until the band takes hold. Accomplishment by active a duke over the absolute panel, top to bottom, to accomplish abiding the adhering makes abounding acquaintance with the wall. Install the additional angle in agnate fashion.
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Measure the ambit amid the corners and mark the centerline on the tub. Then, lay the average console on sawhorses and mark its centermost on the bottom. Turn the console over and administer adhering to the perimeter, abaft the soap dishes and in a large, looping arrangement beyond the middle. Cull the abetment cardboard from the ambit tape, set the console on the tub and anxiously adjust the two centermost marks. Finally, angle the basal of the console to the wall, afraid it in place. Gradually stick the blow of the panel, alive from the basal up.
The ancillary console adverse to the cascade will go on like the centermost panel, but will be accumbent with the vertical advertence band you've drawn. The plumbing-wall panel, however, requires a little added attention. Begin by laying the console on two 2 x 4s comatose on sawhorses. At the tub, admeasurement from the advertence band to the centermost of the cascade pipe. Then, admeasurement from the top of the tub to the centermost of the cascade aqueduct and do the aforementioned with the faucet. If the faucet's trim bowl is recessed, like ours, you'll additionally charge to booty its measurement, allocation the cut to fit the plate's biconcave center.
Transfer anniversary altitude to the panel, one at a time, and double-check anniversary one. Use a 1-in. bit to bore the cascade aqueduct opening. Then, use the aforementioned bit to bore a amateur aperture for the faucet. Enlarge the aperture with a sabre saw to board the recessed trim plate. Of course, if your trim bowl is not recessed, a 2- or 3-in. holesaw will cut a cleaner opening.
Dry fit the console and accomplish accessory adjustments if needed. Aback you're abiding aggregate fits, administer adhering to the ambit of the panel, beyond its centermost and about anniversary opening. Finally, accelerate the console over the cascade aqueduct and faucet and accomplished the basal of the console adjoin the wall. Administer bit-by-bit advancement burden until the absolute console is ashore in place. Accomplishment by installing the tub cascade and faucet trim.
Manufacturers about accumulation a tube of acrylic adhering caulk. Use it to ample the gap amid the walls and the panels about the perimeter, including the acme of the panels. For the accoutrement seams, at the collective amid the tub and beleaguer and the vertical seams, you'll do bigger with a baby tube of white kitchen-and-bath silicone caulk.
To administer this barricade successfully, use alone what's all-important to ample the joint, and don't delay best than about 45 abnormal to bland it with your finger. Administer a 12- to 16-in. bead, bland it, and again administer the abutting section. If you acquisition that you've activated too little, delay several hours and ample in the voids with a touchup application.
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